I've plucked pheasant and turkey without any problem, but I'm a bit of a noob to plucking geese. I'm only on my third goose but I skinned the first two so I thought I'd pluck the third to see how it went. THREE hours later my basement looked like a fairy wonderland with down floating in the air (and up my nose) and I had my plucked goose.

This is how I did it: I hung the goose in the cellar (45 degrees or less) for 5 days first (we were out of town) so the body was plenty cooled. I had to pluck almost the entire bird one feather at a time to keep from tearing the skin. Then the down came off very easily. I tried to get pin-feathers out, but was so tired and cramped I left a lot in. There has to be a better way!

_________________Me: I love you, dear!Wife: You just bought another shotgun, didn't you?

I have tried scalding (stinks and doesn't work that well on waterfowl), waxing (messy and not as easy as advertised) and breasting (or filleting the breast). By far, the best way to pick a goose... is to pay someone else to do it!

While I like my ducks plucked, I don't care to have a whole or half goose carcass so filleting out the breast is just fine with me and far cheaper than a picker. Even cooking a whole goose seems a waste of time and money to me. You're not likely to serve a whole goose to an individual, they take up to much space cooking and serving and you can't tenderize a whole carcass! Breast are far easier to work with, cook and to serve.

While on the subject of processing waterfowl, the neatest trick I ever saw was at a picker in Stuttgart Arkansas! After picking the ducks on a machine, singeing and finishing by hand, the lady would bone out the breast but leave the skin and leg quarter all attached! They were packed 2 per tray, vacum packed and frozen. Easy to pack and ship, store in freezer and perfect serving sizes. They are a zip to cook on the grill and with the skin attached, they don't dry out like skinned meat.

I've done the scalding trick on a turkey on the back porch. I used a large pot on the BBQ's side burner to keep it hot. I didn't try it with a goose because I assumed the water wouldn't get through - "like water off a duck's back" is the phrase I believe. I'll give it a go next time I get one... whenever that is.

The first goose I skinned and roasted in a brown-in bag. The second was quartered and cooked. I don't mind gnawing on the drumsticks - more breast meat for the guests. The plucked goose was roasted in a brown-in bag as well, but I let it get overcooked . Regardless, it tasted great - the kids tried some and then chowed down! It was so dark it was like eating steak!

When done we render the fat and save it for casseroles, pick the carcass for said casseroles and boil the carcass for soup stock. Waste not, want not. My hands are nice and soft when I'm done processing!

_________________Me: I love you, dear!Wife: You just bought another shotgun, didn't you?

I filet out the breasts and remove the legs from early season geese since tthese geese usually have more pin feathers than I want to deal with. Legs go in the crock pot. Use a recipe for a beef pot roast. Real tasty.

Later season geese are dry plucked. Cut the wings off close to the body with a hacksaw. Remove as many feathers as possible and some down. Allow to cool for about an hour or 2. Keep them dry. Then paraffin wax melted over some water in a large pot is poured over them. When the wax is cool, peel it off. Removes the residual feathers, down & fuzz. Result is a real clean bird.

You can remelt the wax, strain out the feathers and reuse the wax next time.

Interesting technique with the wax. I found that the down was the easiest part to remove, just rolled right off. The feathers were tedious, the pinfeathers a downright PIA. Do you leave the down on so the wax doesn't cook the bird but you still get all the pinfeathers out?

Thanks for the tips everyone,

MD

_________________Me: I love you, dear!Wife: You just bought another shotgun, didn't you?

Pluck them while they are warm. If nothing else, pluck around the lower leg area and the base of he wing jusnction with the breast.

No bird is improved for the table by skinning. I do not pluck snows and blues, but I pluck most of my Canada geese and EVERY Speckel Belly.

Your hanging temperature is too high; they should be hung between 32 and 40 and 4 days is enough. If the skin is that tender then it could have been the warm hanging environment.

If you are really into the geese and ducks, you should save the down. It takes a little longer but you can make beautiful comforters. You have to double pluck. You pull the feathers first and then the down and separate them. The smaller feathers can go in the down. My wife and I teamed up; I did the shooting and the plucking and she made down comforters from duck and goose down from birds I had taken for our three sons.

_________________Spencer

"A peculiar virtue in wildlife ethics is that the hunter ordinarily has no gallery to applaud or disapprove of his conduct. Whatever his acts, they are dictated by his own conscience, rather than by a mob of onlookers." Aldo Leopold

I have to agree, even slightly overcooked it was the best goose we have eaten, my two-year old ate a full adult-sized portion three days in a row she loved it so much!

astomb wrote:

Your hanging temperature is too high; they should be hung between 32 and 40 and 4 days is enough. If the skin is that tender then it could have been the warm hanging environment.

The hanging was mostly out of necessity as I shot it the afternoon before we left town. I hung a pheasant in the same way (per Datus Proper's instructions) for 7 days and it was fantastic. I will pluck it warm day-of if I can next time.

astomb wrote:

If you are really into the geese and ducks, you should save the down. You have to double pluck. You pull the feathers first and then the down and separate them.

That's actually how I plucked it anyway. It was less messy to roll the down off all at once. I thought about saving the down but it was a bit muddy and wasn't sure how to clean it. At the rate I bag geese it'll be another decade before I get enough for a throw!

Great tips astomb!

_________________Me: I love you, dear!Wife: You just bought another shotgun, didn't you?

MD:Down and feathers are easy to clean. I avoid bloody down and feathers. I pluck them into large trash bags and at the end of the season I put them in a pillow case and tie off the end of the pillow case. I wash them in mild detergent in warm water and tumble dry on gentle heat for about 10 minutes and then air until dry. I Compact them in a plastic bag and put them in the freezer until my wife wants them.

The sewing skills needed are not huge. My wife is ready to make one for our bed so I am collecting down again.

_________________Spencer

"A peculiar virtue in wildlife ethics is that the hunter ordinarily has no gallery to applaud or disapprove of his conduct. Whatever his acts, they are dictated by his own conscience, rather than by a mob of onlookers." Aldo Leopold

MD - If you totally dry pluck (feathers & down) a goose you wil still have a lot of fuzz left behind. I don't like to burn off the fuzz. You can be a bit sloppy with plucking if you use wax. Wax doesn't remove the undeveloped feathers that's why I will skin my early season birds.

Scalding is quicker than waxing.

In my youth I raised and butchered hundreds of chickens, ducks & geese. We always scaded them. Scalding a goose is tricky unless you have a very large pot like largest off those blue enameled canning pots. Water temp should be about 180, not boiling. I was always told that boiling water would lock the feathers in. I accepted that and never did the experiment. Cut off the wings and use a piece of 1X2 to rub against the lay of the feathers so the hot water can get to the skin. Don't dip too long, a minute or two is enough too start. Pluck a sample area. Feathers should come out without much effort. You can always re-dip them but you can't undo an over scalding. You may have to dip one end then the other so don't cut off the neck until you're finished. Be careful not to drip hot water on your feet. We all do that once, then we learn.